The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1887-08-19

fcsscs that che rclapsed from time To
time TO the ilesh-pots Of Egypt" But
by rcsuming his efforts after each fail.
urc he succeeded In less than year in
adopting permanently a spare and
moderate system. by this time he
was already restored to perfect
health. But thus far he had
only followed the counsels OF
the physician somewhat moro stead
lily than they expected, or than Is usual
in such cases. and therefore with un.
expected good results. II was after he
had recovered his health that he went
on to those experiments by which he
seemed TO show how life may be ex.
tended far beyond the psalmists allow
ance.
From temperance he proceeded to
absteminousness. Undeterred by the
doubts of his physicians rs TO the wis.
dom of such course, he diminished
his daily allowance of food until the
yelk of an egg suiliced him for meal!
Throughout the time when he was thus
reducing his allowance of food his
health and spirits kept improving.
Nay, he tells us that even his enjoy
ment in eating had increased; for he
says he could now get more pleasure
from small meal OF dry bread than
he had ever obtained in the days of his
excuses from the most exquisite dain-
ties of the table, As regards regimen.
Cornaro simply "avoided extremes of
heat and cold, overfatigue, late hours,
sexual excuses, and all violent pas
sions of the mind" he took moderate
exercise in the open air, and his chief
pleasures were those obtained from
literary and artistic study, from the
conte mplation of fine scenery, noble
bui ldings, beautiful combinations OF
colors, and sweet music.
When Cornaro was within two years
of four-score, his diet was regulated,
in quality and quantity, as follows:
In four meals he took each day twelve
ounces in all of solid food, consisting
of bread stale of course for he was
not -minded), light meat, yelk of
egg, and soup; of liquid food other than
pure water he took fourteen ounces of
light wine. Thus his solid food equally |
divided among four me ais, amounted
to only three ounces per meal, while |
he took per meal about three and one
half ounces, or as nearly as possible
one-third of a tum blerful of claret, OF
some other wine of tn kind.
1t must be noted, howe yer, that this
extreme abstemiousness, rs well as the
special nature of the food, solid and
liquid, consumed by Cornaro, must not
be regard ed as absolutely essential
parts of his experience so far as lon
gevity is concerned. We may reason.
ably attribute his exceeding sensitive.
ness in regard to food to peculiarities
of constitution. He tells us that his
medical friends, deeming his allowance
too small, urged him to add two ounces
daily to his solid, and as many to his
liquid, food, change which no adopte d
for while but had presently to discon.
tinue. because his vivacty was destroy.
ed and he was becoming peevish and
But this, while it shows
that Cornaro was exceptionally sensi-
tive, and had probably very weak
constitution. only strengthens the evil
dence which his case supplies as to the
of temperance and even alb.
stemiousness. If one so weak could
live the life of very strong and hearty
man merely by reducing his food to
what many would call starvation
point" what resources there must be
in an abstemious life for those of strong
who shorten their lives by
what most men call simply full and
generous living.
At the age of SO Cornaro wrote his
treatise on 1.-THE Advantage of Tenn.
perate Life" adding later three or
four discourses on the same subject
His fourth and last discourse, which APP.
oeared in letter addressed to Barbara.
patriarch Of Aquileia. was written at
he age of 95. In this he says, she
inds himself still in possession Of
health and vigor and in perfect com.
nand of all his facilities" According
% some accounts Cornaro lived to the {
ige OF l04. But comparing Cornaro's 7
'emarks in his discourses with the best 9
we have up to the time of I
lis death, which appears to have oc-
urred in 1866, it would seem that he {
vas either in his ninety-ninth or one 9
lundredth year when he died.
How much Cornaro abstemlous and !
scetic ways must have had to do with
lis remarkable vitality may be inferred 9
rom the fact that having, when 20 !
ears old met with terrible accident !,
y which his head and body were terri. !,
ly battered. and leg and an arm dis. =
ocated. he recovered, though tho ply '
icians had pronounced the injuries \
atal, almost without medical treat. u
ient and without any feverish symp. Y